The World Economic Forum & Davos - Setting the agenda on fossil fuels, global regulations, etc.

[specinho + 475]

2 hours ago, Tom Nolan said:

The Biggest Energy Bill In A Decade Was Just Passed

By Haley Zaremba - Dec 23, 2020, 6:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Biggest-Energy-Bill-In-A-Decade-Was-Just-Passed.html

After the novel coronavirus turned the entire energy industry on its head, much of the world took the hint and dove headlong into the global clean energy transition, some in the interest of avoiding catastrophic climate change by creating a decarbonized future and others in the interest of staying afloat in a decarbonized economy that is seeming more and more inevitable.

The World Economic Forum has advocated as a “new energy order” and a “great reset.” Prominent international agencies such as the United Nations, the International Energy Agency, and the European Union are all putting together or enacting green stimulus plans. In the private sector, a surprising number of blue chip companies are pushing for a green energy stimulus, but the United States has been slow to follow suit, and has quickly fallen behind.

According to reporting by TechCrunch, solar power, transportation tech, and energy efficiency efforts are the biggest winners in the new energy bill. “There’s $1.5 billion for new solar technologies including modules, concentrating solar technology, new photovoltaic technologies and initiatives to expand solar manufacturing and recycling technologies. And $2.6 billion set aside for transportation technologies,” TechCrunch writes. “Finally, energy-efficiency and weatherization programs are continuing to be supported through a $1.7 billion reauthorization of the Weatherization Assistance Program.”

There is also a considerable chunk of money set aside for energy-grid tech, energy storage, smart utility and energy distribution innovations, hydropower generators, and new research and development for wind and offshore wind power technologies.

This bill will certainly be a blow to the ailing U.S. shale industry, which has been the powerhouse of the U.S. for many years. ( there might be a solution that could possibly prolong the sustainability of shale industry......... According to a data, 65% to 70% of energy produced by various source of suppliers of electricity in the US has gone wasted. Shall we could find ways to increase the efficiency of this supply-demand chain, we might never know, people might call for sustainable fossil fuel usages, for a change......... )

The above notes of panic sounds right when the focal point we are looking at is accommodating the consequences of change brought by thoughtfully inevitable advancement of civilization.......... Would like to share something i saw in a discussion forum which could probably help to reduce the level of panic......

how to sustain energy requirement of urban population

 

Quote:"..........a rural citizen consumes about 200 watts of power. That is day in day out 200 watts. The moment that person moves to the urban area, that power consumption per capita goes to 2,000 watts....................... So looking at this requirement for energy to sustain the population in the urban areas as the population shifts from rural to urban turns out to be a crucial part of this case study."

If not mistaken, according to data published by UN years ago, by 2030 70% of the 8 billion ++ population will be living in urban areas world wide.......... Combining this fact and that of the above, there is a big concern regarding how drastic the population is increasing, how rapid urbanization is progressing as it has been promoted as one of the characteristics of civilization, and how much energy is required to sustain the extrapolated needs, particularly in the cities or urban areas................

Much proposals might be considered hind sights subjectively here........ They target mainly the possible unwanted aftermath to be solved......... Fervently, or with a manner closed to panic, solutions have been aimed at providing sustainable energy to such a big crowd in the urban area in years to come. Half working solutions have been forced to be adopted because they were believed to be the only ways out amidst the panic or false foresight of most probably the youngs..........

More than half a century ago, someone proposed population control during a visit to India, out of concern of unwanted social costs and effects with the sere size of people mostly unsupported by financial means. It was deemed racist then and the organization was probably targeted to be crushed......... Nearly 100 years approaching, if we are relooking at this suggestion, we might be able to see the farsighted wisdom of elder generations, is it not?

Within only 100 years, since world war one and two, the population has been jumping from 250 millions to 7.6 billions. Condom, contraceptive pills and chemicals, contraceptive utensils etc have not been producing promising results apparently. ......... There has been a rarely considered solution by the large crowd i.e. vasectomy..... In a farm introduced by a documentary, one male cow is kept with 10 female cows to get a crowd of cows, multiplied within a short time. Therefore, with promiscuity a norm in loose moral society, vasectomy is deemed the most effective. However, probably due to the costs incurred, and unwidely spread awareness, this option is rarely considered.

Therefore, India, Indonesia, China, Africa, and other countries, overwhelmed by huge population to be handled with, shall consider providing this surgical procedure free of charge or with incentives at the beginning stage. It doesn't cost much except surgical time and 15cm of thread line?? Shall it cost so little to provide effective solution with multiple benefits that relief social tensions and needs for food, resources, energy, space etc, what could be the hindrance for a successful drill??..................

2 hours ago, Tom Nolan said:

https://community.oilprice.com/topic/21316-“your-guide-to-the-great-reset”-new-world-order-technocratic-plans-for-energy-and-you/

 

Economists and businessmen probably tend to focus on what they concern most....... Therefore, their plans might not always be the best or well thought off solutions to what we are generally concerning.......... The framework they have is small and probably, at times, optional. They would definitely do well in those particular areas mentioned and planned............ However................. Although we need leaders for real change to restore what used to be functioning well ( but no longer working so well now), they might not be whom we are after..........

To lead this reset, one might need a larger picture, a real know how and what, to the problems embedded in all corners of policies and skewed outcomes due (mainly) to disparity in quality of human capital............ This could kindly prevent the blind followers of the majority  from falling off the cliffs by following orders or guidelines, from, tentatively, commonly acknowledged influential figures or top officers of famous organizations etc..............

quote:" copy work done by one person = plagiarism; copy work done by many people = research"............ I have grown to read synopsis, basic intro, (mildly on methodology when necessary) and conclusion(sometimes synopsis and conclusion or synopsis only) to skip off distractions.............

Edited December 24, 2020 by specinho

[RichieRich216 + 454]

Davos is the group that wants to run the world by their standards so the few govern everything! They all should be arrested and put in jail or better yet on one of the many islands in the Pacific with nothing but 5 gallons of water each and a week worth of food, a single shot weapon and let these Assclown’s take their overly privileged life’s fight it out for 1 boat with one seat and paddles.

[specinho + 475]

6 minutes ago, RichieRich216 said:

Davos is the group that wants to run the world by their standards so the few govern everything! They all should be arrested and put in jail or better yet on one of the many islands in the Pacific with nothing but 5 gallons of water each and a week worth of food, a single shot weapon and let these Assclown’s take their overly privileged life’s fight it out for 1 boat with one seat and paddles.

I'm not sure if this is what it is............ but never mind............ merry Christmas......

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Big Oil’s Renewables Push Will Come At A Cost

By Irina Slav - Jan 04, 2021, 3:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Big-Oils-Renewables-Push-Will-Come-At-A-Cost.html

Major cuts to oil production, an equally major boost to clean energy project development, and ambitious emissions reduction targets: this was Big Oil’s pledge for the future last year. It’s worth acknowledging the effect the coronavirus pandemic had on oil demand, which motivated oil companies to diversify beyond their core business, but the motivation was already there as pressure from investors started growing for a more environmentally responsible way of doing energy business.

The majors themselves are confident they have the means and expertise to turn into the global utilities of tomorrow. They are betting big on electricity generation and distribution, EV charging, and, of course, wind, solar, and hydrogen. And they are making it sound like it will be smooth sailing. But it won’t be.

The renewables pivot of Big Oil has been hailed by many and criticized by many, the latter of those who remember previous attempts—at least stated attempts—by oil and gas supermajors to shift to cleaner energy. Yet now things are different from previous attempts to go green: the pressure from governments and investors is much stronger as ESG investing turns into a steady trend, and environmental activism reaches new levels of influence over all industries. So what are the challenges?

First, Big Oil has a talent shortage problem. The problem is not new or unfamiliar, but it is potentially serious, according to Vicki Knott, chief executive of control room operations automations solutions provider Crux OCM.

On the one hand, the industry has an aging workforce that does not want to change, Knott told Oilprice. “This workforce remembers how their businesses were impacted by the last green initiatives and have reservations on taking those risks again.” On the other hand, it is getting increasingly difficult for oil and gas companies to find new talent, not least because of the negative image of oil and gas among younger generations.

Workforce behavior and attitudes are factors that tend to get overlooked when publicizing oil and gas companies’ efforts to change, but they are factors. There has been a lot of upbeat talk about retraining the existing workforce for a future that is not exclusively focused on oil and gas, but the actual execution of these retraining initiatives might turn out to be tricky.

Then there is the competition. Sure, Big Oil has the money to buy into solar and wind farm projects—and it is using this money for this purpose—but it is not the only player in this field. It is, in fact, venturing further into a well-populated field, featuring utilities such as Spain’s Iberdrola and Italy’s Enel, and renewable energy companies such as NextEra, which notoriously dethroned Exxon as the most valuable energy stock in the U.S. for a while last year.

These companies have been doing what Big Oil wants to start doing now longer and this gives them an edge over the supermajors even with their expertise—organic and inorganic—in matters related to power generation and distribution. 

“I don’t worry about the oil majors at all,” the chief executive of NextEra said at an investor conference call last year, as quoted by the Wall Street Journal. “If I have 100 things I worry about at night, it’s not even on the top 100.”

This might be an attempt to downplay the threat but, as one oil industry insider told Oilprice last year, the supermajors are not utilities, they don’t have the expertise to compete successfully with utilities, so they should stick to what they know how to do.

Be that as it may, Big Oil does have relevant expertise, Crux OCM’s Knott notes. It has operated vast supply chains for decades and it has the means to build new ones around renewable energy and operate them efficiently. And yet it seems Big Oil’s biggest advantage over the renewables competition is its core business.

“ Big Oil has an established supply chain infrastructure to distribute oil and gas for energy purposes,” Knott told Oilprice. “It also has an established infrastructure for home heating and cooking that is affordable. Big oil also is able to fuel power plants’ base load demands reliably (wind and sun are variable, you can take a power plant offline if the wind isn’t blowing but you can’t make the wind blow).”

Most of the world’s largest oil companies have pledged to become net-zero businesses by 2050. For many this is an impossible task, with environmental lobbyists noting the industry’s lofty goals sound better than they actually are.

“Each of them wants to remain a fossil fuel giant, only not look like one,” said Mark van Baal from Dutch-based shareholder advocacy group Follow This said last year in comments on the above findings. “Apparently far more pressure from society and responsible investors is needed to make oil executives see the writing on the wall.”

But it may be that Big Oil does not really need to become Big Electricity, or at least not Big Renewable Electricity. It may be smartest to play to its strengths and reduce emissions at the same time but without undertaking a complete—and potentially risky—transformation. 

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Tom Nolan's comment - "The Powers That Should Not Be" likely will try in various veiled ways to keep people on a grid, not decentralized and independent...it could be by "encouraging" more multi-unit rental housing or by making the viability of independent solar power less inviting, or various regulations, taxes and national policies which undermine independence and liberty.

The Beginning Of A New Megatrend In Solar Energy

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/The-Beginning-Of-A-New-Megatrend-In-Solar-Energy.html

By Alex Kimani - Jan 04, 2021, 4:00 PM CST

he solar sector has enjoyed a jaw-dropping run-up in the current year. The sector’s sole pure-play solar fund, Invesco Solar Portfolio ETF (TAN), is up 234% over the past 52 weeks, with a good chunk of those returns having come after Joe Biden was declared the winner of the U.S. presidential elections a month-and-half ago.

That incredible momentum is certainly beginning to look like a big bubble in the making, considering that it’s hard to prove how the fundamental value of solar companies has more than tripled in the space of just 12 months. Although solar is mostly considered a growth industry, solar companies have generally recorded a smaller spike in demand as a result of the pandemic compared to work-from-home companies.

Yet, Wall Street remains very bullish on the sector and sees the rally extending for months and even years thanks to incredible growth runways as the solar industry ramps up infrastructure. U.S. solar power revenue is expected to more than double over the next five years.

And one secular trend is looking to completely redefine the solar sector: Community solar.

Whereas residential solar demand has exploded in recent years as more Americans try to play their part in ameliorating climate change, the harsh reality is that not everyone can have solar on their own roof. 

Thankfully, community solar is about to make solar energy accessible to nearly every one of America’s 128 million households.

Source: Reuters

Community solar

For decades, residential power customers who wanted to switch to solar energy have been limited to two options: Installing their own solar panels or purchasing solar off the grid from their local utility.

Rooftop solar panels deliver plenty of savings for the average homeowner, with the average installation generally paying for itself within six to 10 years. Unfortunately, installation costs remain high, with the average system costs clocking in at ~$13,000 after tax credits. Further, whereas some solar plans require no upfront costs, they have the big drawback of locking the customer into multi-decade contracts. 

But these are actually the lesser evils of residential solar; the biggest is that only about 23% of American households have ready access to rooftop solar.

This sad state of affairs is due to factors such as living in rental houses or apartment buildings, tree shading, and restrictive homeowners’ association rules that affect about 49% of U.S. households.

The second option is not that attractive from a customer’s perspective, either.

Customers who choose to purchase solar energy directly from their utilities or retail energy suppliers do not enjoy the full benefits of falling renewable energy costs. While solar and wind are frequently the cheapest source of electricity in most places, most of these cost savings are not passed on to the customer but rather end up in the pockets of retailers--green energy plans merely pass on their green credits to customers, but offer minimal to no savings, with some even costing more. 

Even more alarming is the fact that few such plans finance the actual construction of new renewable projects because customers sign on only after a project is already underway.

Enter community solar, a simple, even elegant, model that promises to deliver clean energy to anyone connected to the main grid for less than their current utility bill.

There’s no national standard yet for what constitutes a community solar program, but the basic premise is that customers purchase shares in a new solar farm in their service area; developers build it, and the electricity generated flows into the main grid. These subscribers then receive credits that cut their utility bills by about 10%.

Community solar provides flexible contracts that deliver energy savings by constructing large-scale solar arrays. Developers sign up customers months ahead of time, with many solar projects completed in a year or less. Many plans allow customers to cancel with a few weeks’ or months’ notice. 

Some providers require a credit score, but many do not. For instance, Solstice, a company that works with community solar developers, uses an alternative to FICO credit scores that allows customers with less-than-stellar credit scores to enjoy the benefits of community solar. Solstice has even introduced a “no-risk” contract that lasts just one year.

That kind of flexibility and friendlier contract terms have been lacking in a sector that favors stable, long-term contracts that guarantee investors continued returns on their investments. 

Going mainstream

Despite being a decade old, the concept of community solar has only recently started to truly take off.

Currently, community solar accounts for 2GW of the 76GW installed solar capacity in the U.S. Community solar is available in 40 states though only 20 states and the District of Columbia have passed community solar legislation.  The average discount off utility rates on its community solar marketplace is about 10% but goes as high as 20% in New York, thanks in part to a more mature, competitive market.

The good news is that several analysts believe that community solar is set to become the most prevalent model of residential solar power distribution in the country, with Vikram Aggarwal, founder of EnergySage, a home solar marketplace, predicting that a large majority of the American population will have access to community solar in the next few years.

Aggarwal argues that community projects could force complacent utilities to start delivering on popular demand for renewable power or risk losing customers altogether. 

J.R. Tolbert, MD at Advanced Energy Economy, concurs:

“The best action states can take on community solar, rooftop solar, or utility-scale renewable energy is to ensure a vibrant third-party market, where the utility competes for the consumer’s business rather than controls it.”

By Alex Kimani for Oilprice.com

Edited January 5, 2021 by Tom Nolan

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

QUOTE FROM ARTICLE

What the World Economic Forum advocated as a “new energy order” and a “great reset” is taking place as we speak. But while these students report that this pandemic-era reality was an entirely unforeseen “slap in the face,” the reality of climate change and the imperative of a post-carbon world has long been apparent. In fact, this transition is behind schedule. But now that it’s here, the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is not just a trend--it seems to be here to stay, and those who resist it--as is so eloquently illustrated by the Times--are likely to get left behind. 

 

Aspiring Oil Tycoons Brace For Disappointment

By Haley Zaremba - Jan 05, 2021, 5:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Aspiring-Oil-Tycoons-Brace-For-Disappointment.html

Since years before the unexpected blow of the novel coronavirus pandemic, U.S. shale has been in a state of serious decline. Diminishing returns from aging wells turned the gush of the shale revolution into a trickling death march for the struggling sector. And then came the coup de grace: Black April. After the spread of COVID-19 swept the rug out from underneath global oil demand, the leading OPEC+ members of Saudi Arabia and Russia got into a spat over how to respond to the problem which developed into an all-out oil price war. The ensuing global oil glut is what ultimately dealt the death blow to the U.S. shale market when it made owning oil a liability and drove the West Texas Intermediate, which had never gone negative before, to a stunning minus $37.63 a barrel. 

The effects in the Permian Basin have been lasting and devastating. The shale sector needed a major rebound in oil demand and prices to bring all of its shut-in wells back up and running and rehire all of its fired and furloughed employees, but the pandemic persists and oil was already well on its way out. Now, peak oil is suddenly upon us and the global energy transition toward cleaner, more climate-friendly fuel and energy alternatives is well underway. 

As the end of the shale oil and gas era has become increasingly more difficult to deny, even the most veteran fossil fuel leaders have been fleeing the sector. First the oilfield services giant Halliburton said that they would bail on shale back in July, when it told its investors that it will be taking a ‘fundamentally different course’ after slashing its ranks of employees and cutting dividends on the tails of its third straight quarterly loss in January of this year--before the pandemic had even had a chance to wreak its havoc. This move was followed by the exodus of a slew of other oilfield services companies, a sweeping phenomenon which Oilprice reported on back in August. 

Recent think pieces have suggested that the most promising future for the U.S. shale patch will have nothing to do with shale oil or gas, but with clean energy. Some have advocated for solar while others have advocated for green hydrogen and ammonia energy storage.  The suggestion that renewables and green energy could be the economic salvation for Texas, even more so than the stalwart fossil fuels industry that the state has relied on for so long, is supported by swaths of data that find green energy will be an increasingly significant jobs creator going forward. 

Back in June PV Tech reported on “a raft of new studies” which has “come to underscore the business case of pushing renewables to the heart of the COVID-19 recovery, amid claims green energy plays offer a low-cost, high-return opportunity for investors.” And a month after that, “physicist, engineer, researcher, inventor, serial entrepreneur, and MacArthur ‘genius’ grant winner” Saul Griffith’s organization Rewiring America “made its big debut with a jobs report showing that rapid decarbonization through electrification would create 15 million to 20 million jobs in the next decade, with 5 million permanent jobs after that.”

The end of Texas oil and the beginning of a new energy era for the Lone Star state was underscored this week by a New York Times feature on the next generation of would-be oil tycoons. “Students and recent graduates struggle to get hired as the oil industry cuts tens of thousands of jobs, some of which may never come back,” read Sunday’s byline. These students chose to pursue an economic sector that was supposed to be a sure bet. The fact that it has proved not to be is indicative of just how much and how fast the global energy industry is changing. What the World Economic Forum advocated as a “new energy order” and a “great reset” is taking place as we speak. But while these students report that this pandemic-era reality was an entirely unforeseen “slap in the face,” the reality of climate change and the imperative of a post-carbon world has long been apparent. In fact, this transition is behind schedule. But now that it’s here, the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is not just a trend--it seems to be here to stay, and those who resist it--as is so eloquently illustrated by the Times--are likely to get left behind. 

By Haley Zaremba for Oilprice.com 

[specinho + 475]

On 1/5/2021 at 12:01 PM, Tom Nolan said:

Big Oil’s Renewables Push Will Come At A Cost

By Irina Slav - Jan 04, 2021, 3:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Big-Oils-Renewables-Push-Will-Come-At-A-Cost.html

Major cuts to oil production, an equally major boost to clean energy project development, and ambitious emissions reduction targets: this was Big Oil’s pledge for the future last year. It’s worth acknowledging the effect the coronavirus pandemic had on oil demand, which motivated oil companies to diversify beyond their core business, but the motivation was already there as pressure from investors started growing for a more environmentally responsible way of doing energy business.

The majors themselves are confident they have the means and expertise to turn into the global utilities of tomorrow. They are betting big on electricity generation and distribution, EV charging, and, of course, wind, solar, and hydrogen. And they are making it sound like it will be smooth sailing. But it won’t be.

was in a course "chemistry and energy on global scale"...... Not sure if this info is correct but...........

amount of carbon dioxide in the air and infrared trappers

discussion posted by Sarahpecinho

quote:" And that occurred just as CO2 hit about 260 parts per million. Now, as we'll see in just a moment, if we look at the situation today, the CO2 concentration is about 406 parts per million."

Pardon me for being alerted......... According to google......... By volume, the dry air in Earth's atmosphere is about 78.09 percent nitrogen, 20.95 percent oxygen, and 0.93 percent argon. A brew of trace gases accounts for the other 0.03 percent, including the greenhouse gases carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide and ozone. Oct 2019 https://climate.nasa.gov/news/2915/the-atmosphere-getting-a-handle-on-carbon-dioxide/#:~:text=By%20volume%2C%20the%20dry%20air,methane%2C%20nitrous%20oxide%20and%20ozone.

So, we have 0.03% of CO2 in the air at the beginning. Now the amount of CO2 has doubled, we might still have 0.03% of CO2 in the air?? Compared to exhale air of mankind during respiration, CO2 comprises 4% of total gas involved. Eerrr......... where would this be leading us?? Cut back human respiration and the number of people that respires??

Infrared trappers In order to progress with the discussion, we might need to define "heat trapper"........ To trap heat, an element would need to have an entity called heat capacity.

The specific heat capacity of water is 4,200 Joules per kilogram per degree Celsius (J/kg°C). This means that it takes 4,200 J to raise the temperature of 1 kg of water by 1°C.

Specific heat capacity - Energy and heating - AQA - GCSE ...www.bbc.co.uk › bitesize › guides › revisio

How much energy does it take to raise 1 kg of CO2 by 1°C?? This will determine how much energy CO2 can trap in the air and its significance?? If data is available for methane and other gases, it would be really helpful to give a clearer picture, no??

Therefore, we might be in a false panic condition to mend the wrong thing in the wrong direction in haste.......... or no??

In addition, might have posted this somewhere but here.........

Sustainable energy

Q: why are forms of sustainable energy not so widely used even though we know the environmental impacts that other forms of energy cause?

A:

•  

In order to build the ground of mutual understanding, sustainable energy that you were pointing at might mean renewable energy? If so, forms of renewable energy would be: hydro, solar, wind, wave, biomass

We might have been given a skewed conception of data presentation may be to promote one technology over others. Hydropower has been the most widely used renewable energy worldwide. It contributes 60% to 90% of energy for many countries worldwide. Average usages would also be 30% to 50% of hydropower in most countries (except may be the middle east where they might not have rivers
List of countries without rivers - Wikipediaen.wikipedia.org › wiki › List_of_countries_without_rivers).

Therefore, in addition to solar, wind, wave etc, the total percentage of renewable energy used in the world could have been 60% to 70% and fossil fuel 30 to 40%............. An underrepresented value due to misconception or misinformation provided............

So........ are we ready to make a call to use fossil fuel sustainably by

1. disallowing redundant factories of low quality. This reduces wastage of products that can not be sold, in addition to wastage of fuel......

2. imposing vasectomy onto countries or ethnics with the fastest population increasing rate. This reduces the need for natural resources, space,  food, aids etc etc......

3. reducing hastily planned constructions especially high rises of low occupancy rate ( average occupancy rate is 10 to 20% per building of height 15 to 20 stories tall) ; roads and highways without drainage holes. This reduces wastage and unwanted consequences like flood, traffic congestion, micro or local climate change etc...

4. revoking pension scheme and hiring rate for majority low performing government officers. This reduces number of redundant personnel that complicate procedures or reduce the efficiency of work. It also reduces number of transport in used on the road and hence usages on fuel plus reduces severity of road congestion.

5. etc (please feel free to add some more, shall you are in the mood...............)😏

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

There is no stopping the World Globalist Agenda, nor all the "free Biden money" coming.

While I refuse to invest in evil corporations like Monsanto/Bayer nor any Pharmaceutical company, I will invest in some of the "green companies" because of the trend.

Some stocks / ETFs  which chime with the "Biden green wave" that  I currently own are    TAN    PBW     LIT    ICLN    ---     FCEL    EVLLF    MMX  and silver miners such as   AUNFF or   EXK and other mining royalty companies like   FNV   MTA    SAND

Edited January 7, 2021 by Tom Nolan

[0R0 + 6,251]

On 12/24/2020 at 10:47 AM, Tom Nolan said:

This bill will certainly be a blow to the ailing U.S. shale industry, which has been the powerhouse of the U.S. for many years. But countless studies indicate that green energy, not fossil fuels, will create sorely needed jobs for the United States. In the long term, ESG is a smart investment for the country as well as its workers, many of whose jobs are quickly becoming obsolete. As the summary report of the Energy Act of 2020 asserts, making these considerable investments at this critical juncture will help “reduce our nation’s greenhouse gas emissions, bring good-paying jobs back to the United States, and allow us to export these technologies to growing markets abroad for years to come.”

There is a problem that the profitability of green energy is far too low to get it to be a viable substitute for NG, which is why the many jobs that can be created in green energy are low paying.

The dirty truth is that the energy return on energy in the green sector is remarkably low and much of the energy is produced out of sync with the demand so has to be wasted in one way or another due to the even lower energy return on energy of battery storage. 

That said, the economics are improving rather rapidly due to the pricing pressure from competition by NG. The attack by the politicos against fossil fuels is precisely intended to provide this industry with artificially high margins in order to reward its failings. But this is counterproductive as it removes the need for the industry to win in the marketplace. Thus reduces the pressure to lower costs and reduce capital outlay per unit of timely output.

We will get there broadly in green energy over time, but the attempts to foster accelerated deployment must result in delaying output by investing in less efficient early generation technologies, AKA boondoggles. The world does not want to look like Germany China and California if anyone cares about people. As the WEF members  have clearly presented a world in which the people distinctly don't matter at all, being fodder for genetic modification, devoid of self direction and forced into dependency if not murdered outright.

The traitors that make up the WEF should be arrested and prosecuted for treason by their respective nations. Their plan's implementers within governments and politics should be disposed of and prohibited from public service and positions of power in industry finance and civil society's organizations. 

[0R0 + 6,251]

On 1/6/2021 at 10:40 AM, Tom Nolan said:

What the World Economic Forum advocated as a “new energy order” and a “great reset” is taking place as we speak. But while these students report that this pandemic-era reality was an entirely unforeseen “slap in the face,” the reality of climate change and the imperative of a post-carbon world has long been apparent. In fact, this transition is behind schedule. But now that it’s here, the Environmental, Social, and Corporate Governance (ESG) investing is not just a trend--it seems to be here to stay, and those who resist it--as is so eloquently illustrated by the Times--are likely to get left behind. 

ESG was a reliable indicator of corporate performance in the past, as it indicated a commitment to meritocracy (i.e. resulting in diversity) good relationships with the communities they operate in (social) and a fair board structure that allows for flatter compensation curves and broader distribution of control to shareholders.

In the current environment, the cart has been flipped in front of the horse as the loose ESG indicators come to replace the definite balance sheet and income statements so that the companies are graded on factors that do not relate to their real world performance for shareholders and the economy. In  short, it is creating an unsustainable  bubble inherent in the selection criteria for ESG investing funds/managers. That will end terribly when the discrepancy of weak financial performance and elevated valuation manifests in investors fleeing the sector classification.

The weak performance is guaranteed by the loading of return free costs for social and environmental purposes, and non meritocratic selection of executives and advisers for the purpose of achieving diversity at the expense of competence.

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Big Oil Is Getting Serious About Carbon Capture

By Irina Slav - Jan 07, 2021, 3:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Big-Oil-Is-Getting-Serious-About-Carbon-Capture.html

Five years ago, a handful of oil majors launched what they called the Oil and Gas Climate Initiative with the stated aim of accelerating the energy industry's response to climate change. One of the ways to do that was carbon capture, storage, and potential reuse. Now, five years later, Big Oil has little to show for it. Yet it is starting to take carbon capture seriously.

In December last year, BP said it had acquired a majority stake in the largest carbon offset project developer, Finite Carbon. The company, according to the supermajor, "develops projects that enable landowners to generate revenue from the protection, restoration, and sustainable management of forests." The acquisition will help Finite Carbon expand internationally, targeting landowner revenues of $1 billion by 2030.

In August last year, BP's fellow supermajor Shell said it would acquire an Australian carbon offset project developer, Select Carbon. The Anglo-Dutch company noted this was the first acquisition in its Nature-Based Solutions division: a business unit that invests in natural carbon sinks as a means of offsetting carbon dioxide emissions.

Welcome to the new face of carbon emissions control.

There has been a lot of media attention given to carbon capture and sequestration over the past few years as one of the few ways we can compensate for our carbon footprint as a species. Yet the technology of capturing carbon dioxide and storing it or reusing it remains prohibitively expensive, stumping efforts to make it a mainstream method of controlling those emissions.

The reason the technology is expensive is that carbon capture facilities are quite complex affairs. Also, they take a long time to construct. A recent Bloomberg article noted the extension of the 45Q tax credit that offers breaks for companies active in carbon capture but also said this may not amount to a great incentive for new projects judging by the effect the credit has had on new projects in the last two years. There have been none.

In a further example of the questionable viability of carbon capture technology, Exxon last year shelved the LaBarge carbon sequestration project in Wyoming. Originally believed to have the potential to become one of the biggest carbon capture and storage projects globally, the LaBarge development instead became a victim of Covid-19. And it would have cost just 1 percent of Exxon's 2020 budget, the Dallas Morning News noted at the time, with a price tag of $260 million.

Given the challenges of carbon capture technology and growing pressure from investors and regulators, it is no surprise Big Oil is turning to alternatives of carbon emission control. Especially if their new activities in this respect become new revenue streams in the future, as Reuters' Shadia Nasralla wrote in a recent in-depth analysis of the topic.

Projects like those developed by Finite Carbon and Select Carbon generate revenues not just for landowners and farmers but for the project developers, too. Finite Carbon, Nasralla reports, takes between 20 and 40 percent of landowners' carbon credit proceeds. Other organizations take a 10-percent cut. It's a nascent market, but it is a market no less.

"Investing in carbon sequestration, at a time when the world is increasingly carbon constrained, over time will prove to make good commercial, business sense," the head of Shell's Nature-Based Solutions unit told Nasralla.

The European Union already has a lively carbon credit market. Elsewhere, it's a question of voluntary carbon emission reduction that can earn you credits you could then sell to a big polluter that wants to cut its carbon footprint.

This is not to say that carbon capture technology is dead, far from it. The extension of the 45Q tax credit was accompanied by $2 billion in funding for six carbon capture projects, Bloomberg's Leslie Kaufman wrote. The aim of the projects: to prove real-world operability to spur corporate investment in carbon capture and sequestration.

"The whole point of the credit is to prove the technology works and costs can be lowered so a virtuous circle of investing and building can begin," Brad Crabtree, director of the Carbon Capture Coalition, told Bloomberg's Kaufman. "We can then ramp up in 2035. 

Big Oil is in no position to make ambitious spending plans right now. Yet it is in a position to invest in the likes of Finite Carbon and Select Carbon—the technological challenges—and financial risks—in investing in the preservation of forests and grasslands are much fewer if any.

Not everyone is happy with Big Oil saving forests and grasslands. Some find it unpalatable that oil companies are set to profit from projects seeking to alleviate the effects of their own business activity, Reuters' Nasralla writes. However, others prefer to focus on the big picture: if the end result of this new business is lower carbon dioxide emissions, then it doesn't matter too much who is achieving this end result.

By Irina Slav for Oilprice.com

Edited January 8, 2021 by Tom Nolan

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Net-Zero Emissions Might Not Be Possible Without Nuclear Power

By Tsvetana Paraskova - Jan 07, 2021, 4:00 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Net-Zero-Emissions-Might-Not-Be-Possible-Without-Nuclear-Power.html

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

The 'Great Reset' is about Expanding Government Power and Suppressing Liberty

By Ron Paul - Monday January 4, 2021

http://ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2021/january/04/the-great-reset-is-about-expanding-government-power-and-suppressing-liberty/

https://www.zerohedge.com/geopolitical/ron-paul-great-reset-about-expanding-government-power-and-suppressing-liberty

World Economic Forum Founder and Executive Chairman Klaus Schwab has proposed using the overreaction to coronavirus to launch a worldwide “Great Reset.” This Great Reset is about expanding government power and suppressing liberty worldwide.

Schwab envisions an authoritarian system where big business acts as a partner with government. Big business would exercise its government-granted monopoly powers to maximize value for “stakeholders,” instead of shareholders. Stakeholders include the government, international organizations, the business itself, and “civil society.”

Of course, government bureaucrats and politicians, together with powerful special interests, will decide who are, and are not, stakeholders, what is in stakeholders’ interest, and what steps corporations must take to maximize stakeholder value. People’s own wishes are not the priority.

The Great Reset will dramatically expand the surveillance state via real-time tracking. It will also mandate that people receive digital certificates in order to travel and even technology implanted in their bodies to monitor them.

Included in Schwab’s proposal for surveillance is his idea to use brain scans and nanotechnology to predict, and if necessary, prevent, individuals’ future behavior. This means that anyone whose brain is “scanned” could have his Second Amendment and other rights violated because a government bureaucrat determines the individual is going to commit a crime. The system of tracking and monitoring could be used to silence those expressing “dangerous” political views, such as that the Great Reset violates our God-given rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.

The Great Reset involves a huge expansion of the welfare state via a universal basic income program. This can help ensure compliance with the Great Reset’s authoritarian measures. It will also be very expensive. The resulting increase in government debt will not be seen as a problem by people who believe in modern monetary theory. This is the latest version of the fairy tale that deficits don’t matter as long as the Federal Reserve monetizes the debt.

The Great Reset ultimately will fail for the same reason all other attempts by government to control the market fail. As Ludwig von Mises showed, government interference in the marketplace distorts the price system. Prices are how information about the value of goods and services related to other goods and services is conveyed to market actors. Government interference in the marketplace disturbs the signals sent by prices, leading to an oversupply of certain goods and services and an undersupply of others.

The lockdowns show the dangers of government control over the economy and our personal lives. Lockdowns have increased unemployment, caused many small businesses to close, and led to more substance abuse, domestic violence, and suicide. We are told the lockdowns are ordered because of a virus that poses no great danger to a very large percentage of the American public. Yet, instead of adopting a different approach, politicians are doubling down on the failed policies of masks and lockdowns. Meanwhile, big tech companies, which are already often acting as partners of government, silence anyone who questions the official line regarding the threat of coronavirus or the effectiveness of lockdowns, masks, and vaccines.

The disastrous response to Covid is just the latest example of how those who give up liberty for safety or health will end up unfree, unsafe, and unhealthy. Instead of a Great Reset of authoritarianism, we need a great rebirth of liberty!

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

5 minute video

Weekly Update --- The 'Great Reset' is about Expanding Government Power and Suppressing Liberty

 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

36 minutes ago, Tom Nolan said:

The 'Great Reset' is about Expanding Government Power and Suppressing Liberty

By Ron Paul

For those that don't know the name:

Ron Paul From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

He is a retired Representative and candidate for President, and a respected source for what the Government is actually doing behind those mahogany doors.

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Who are the real enemies of the people in the United States (and the World)?  ...both Democrats and Republicans.

Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.: Int'l. Message

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

I want to draw attention to the climate change agenda...

The 3rd Annual REAL Fake News Awards! - The Year of 2019

QUEUED VIDEO - (View time less than 10 minutes)

THE AWARD FOR FAKEST CLIMATE CRUSADE OF THE YEAR GOES TO:

• Time Magazine for “2019 Person of the Year – Greta Thunberg“
• Please read “The Manufacturing of Greta Thunberg” for more info on this story
• Relevant article and video from In-This-Together.com

Taken from this THREAD...

https://community.oilprice.com/topic/22241-announcing-the-4th-annual-fake-news-awards-coming-soon/#comment-142667

 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Bitchute Video - https://www.bitchute.com/video/8wkGXSGlD4Of/

(6 minutes) There are some grins here...

 

[Dan Warnick + 6,100]

16 minutes ago, Tom Nolan said:

Bitchute Video - https://www.bitchute.com/video/8wkGXSGlD4Of/

(6 minutes) There are some grins here...

 

That's a gem!  JA!

[0R0 + 6,251]

Really terrific. 

[Boat + 1,325]

On 10/8/2020 at 3:53 PM, 0R0 said:

Sustainable development is what gives the Davos crowd more money. And their lackeys in governments and international orgs. more power.

Otherwise indistinguishable from any familiar boondoggle like the "Big Dig"

I remember reading in the lead to WWII the huge expansion of hydro power in the North West was considered a huge boondoggle. When WWII hit it was the best place in the world for massive amounts of cheap electricity which was a cornerstone to the quick build out of the US military.

Edited January 10, 2021 by Boat

[Boat + 1,325]

The thing is Musk (new richest person in the world) will do more for sustainable development than the Davos crowd. He jump started the electric car and battery storage tech. That market is trillions large and everybody is years behind. While your crowd crowd complains and dreams conspiercy Musk says just watch me change your world by doing it cheaper and cleaner. 

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Actually, this article lists more than 3 stocks which take advantage of "The Great Reset" agenda/trend.

3 Electric Vehicle Stocks That Could Boom In 2021

By Nick Shaw - Jan 10, 2021, 6:30 PM CST

https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/3-Electric-Vehicle-Stocks-That-Could-Boom-In-2021.html

[Tom Nolan + 2,443]

Here is What's Her Face with a 4 minutes video summarizing "The Great Reset". 

If anyone wants a quick summary, this is it...

Welcome to THE GREAT RESET

VIDEO DESCRIPTION

The orchestration of humanity's demise goes by many names: The Great Reset, Agenda 21, Agenda 2030, the 4th Industrial Revolution and The New World Order, . No matter the name, the goal remains. It is the complete servitude of the world’s population under the guise of righteousness. The elites will stop at nothing to manipulate and change the minds of people, having them believe up is down, good is bad, freedom is slavery and ignorance is strength. But humanity is resilient and endures, we will not be overcome.

SOURCE ARTICLE ABOUT THE GREAT RESET

https://winteroak.org.uk/2020/10/05/klaus-schwab-and-his-great-fascist-reset/